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NEW YORK, NY December 22, 2006 —Today is the deadline for New York City parents to register their kids for yellow bus service. The routes change in January. Meanwhile, the city is planning to solicit bids this coming year for a new Global Positioning System to track its buses. WNYC's Beth Fertig has more.

REPORTER: For years, parents throughout the city have complained about late school buses messing up their delicately balanced household schedules. Juanita Madero in Queens says her seven year old son's bus is late a few days a week, even though it's supposed to come at 6:30 each morning.

MADERO: But he doesn't get picked up until 7-7:30. By that time my daughter has to be in school at a certain time.

REPORTER: Parents can call a hotline when a bus is late, but it takes a while for the bus companies to contact their drivers. That telephone gridlock will end when the Education Department installs a Global Positioning System in its 8-thousand school buses. Marty Oestreicher is the chief executive in charge of student support services.

OESTREICHER: From the terms of customer service it's very important because we'll be able to give that information in real time.

REPORTER: Oestreicher says the city will also be able to plan better bus routes based on traffic patterns, and monitor on time performance. A pilot program is expected this coming summer. For WNYC I'm Beth Fertig.